In hydrocarbon processing such as in the alkylation of gaseous isoparaffinic compounds, effluent streams containing valuable by-products may be produced. For instance, in the alkylation of isobutane with propylene/butylene mixtures, an effluent stream may be produced which contains propane and n-butane. The separation and recovery of propane for use as a fuel, and the recovery of butane as a gasoline blending agent is particularly desirable. Frequently, separation is accomplished by passing a mixture of the components over packed inert material beds in a heated distillation tower. The packed material may, for example, be inert metal elements, ceramic elements, etc. A liquid component, the higher boiling point material, is recovered at the bottom of the tower and a gaseous product is recovered at the top. In certain other hydrocarbon processes, it is desirable to remove impurities from a feed. For instance, the removal of impurities such as CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 S etc. from natural gas vapor streams is desirable. Separation of these impurities may be accomplished by passing a stream over packed absorption material beds so that the impurity is absorbed from the feed.
However, efficient separation of components of a liquid feed, or the separation of impurities from a vapor feed stream, depends on uniformly distributing the feed to the material beds of a tower.
Known devices exist for the distribution of feed to material beds within towers. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,741 relates to a device which distributes a fluid to a bed of catalyst particles. The device comprises a fluid inlet conduit, the length thereof being slightly smaller than the diameter of the reactor. The device includes a plurality of fluid distribution conduits consisting of an outer pipe and a smaller inner pipe that lie in a common plane, perpendicular to the fluid inlet conduit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,256 discloses a distribution device for distributing a vapor-liquid mixture phase feed to a contacting zone in a reactor. The device includes an upper distribution tray for receiving a liquid portion of a feed and for evenly distributing the feed, without impeding gas flow. The device also includes one or more foraminous baskets immersed in the upper surface of the active particles which form solid catalyst beds below the distribution tray.
Other patents which disclose distribution systems which may be of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,915,847; 3,524,731; 3,146,189; and 2,094,601.